Axel Foley is making a comeback. The Beverly Hills Cop franchise has been on ice for years, but Netflix has just announced that they’re teaming up with Paramount Pictures and Eddie Murphy to bring Beverly Hills Cop 4 to the streaming service. Murphy, who recently worked with Netflix on Dolomite is My Name, has apparently enjoyed his partnership with the company and decided it’d be the perfect home for the long-in-gestation sequel. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer is also along for the ride.
The particulars of the deal are that Paramount have agreed a one-time licensing fee with Netflix that allows them to produce Beverly Hills Cop 4, with the option of a Beverly Hills Cop 5 if it proves a hit. We don’t yet know when production will begin, but Murphy has indicated he’s ready to start as soon as the sequel to Coming To America – Coming 2 America – is complete.
As fans will know, the franchise has effectively been dead ever since the release of 1994’s Beverly Hills Cop 3. The film came during a career-low point for Murphy and is generally considered pretty damn bad, with Murphy himself describing it as “horrible.” Ever since then, there’ve been periodic efforts to revive the series, with the fourth film officially announcing Brett Ratner as director at one point. But despite many attempts, it was never greenlit.
Following that, focus shifted to a CBS show revolving around Axel Foley’s son, with Foley now Chief of Police in Detroit. CBS passed on the series in late 2013 though and since then, the ‘current’ Beverly Hills Cop 4 has been in development. And now, finally, it seems that it’s actually going to happen.
Plot details and further casting are still scarce at this early, early stage, but it’s definitely been a long wait to see what Axel Foley does next and we just hope that he’s still got his edge.
